Voestalpine Stahl Donawitz steel plant

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Voestalpine Stahl Donawitz steel plant, also known as Donawitz Steelworks, is a blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) steel plant operating in Leoben, Styria, Austria.

Location

The map below shows the exact location of the plant in Leoben, Styria, Austria:

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  • Location: Kerpelystraße 199, 8700 Leoben, Austria
  • Coordinates (WGS 84): 47.380455, 15.065182 (exact)

Background

The Voestalpine Stahl Donawitz steel plant began operating in 1878, with the history of the plant tracing back to the first hammer mills in Leoben that were established in 1436. In 1878, the construction of the Donawitz-Vordernberg railway line nearby created demand for steel and the plant was erected, with more units and ovens being added on through the years.[1]

In 1991, the Donawitz site split into three separate companies; in 1995, voestalpine had its initial public offering and purchased the site.[1]

In 2007, voestalpine completed the addition of a debris water plant, and in 2008, a captive power plant began operating onsite to power the plant's operations.[1]

In 2017, voestalpine announced it would be investing $114m in various equipment at the Donawitz plant yet no updates on these investments were publicly available.[2]

The plant is known for its low number of onsite employees; in 2017 several articles were published regarding how the plant only needed 14 people to make 500,000 tons of robust steel wire a year.[3][4]

The plant is listed as "Sinteranl., Hochöfen, Stahlwerk Donawitz" in a Sandbag report (link unknown), meaning "Sinter plant, blast furnaces, steelworks Donawitz," meaning it could have a sinter plant as well.

Transition

In March 2023 the company approved a EUR 1.5 billion investment to transition the plant away from BF-BOF production by building an EAF with 850ttpa steelmaking capacity. The EAF, along with another at the company's Linz plant, is expected to be commissioned in 2027. The company also announced that it will be decommissioning two blast furnaces, one each at the two plants in this expansion cycle and two more by 2030.[5]

Low-emissions/green steelmaking

This steel plant is associated with a green steel project tracked in the Green Steel Tracker. Details about the project are included below.

Table 1: Green Steel Project Details

All references for the above data are available in the Green Steel Tracker.
Project 1 Project 2 Project 3
Company voestalpine Group voestalpine Group voestalpine Group
Company has climate goals? Yes Yes Yes
Location Donawitz, Austria Donawitz, Austria Donawitz, Austria
Project name SuSteel HYFOR Greentec steel - Donawitz
Project website Site Site Site
Project scale Pilot Pilot Full scale
Project status Finalized (research & testing) Finalized (research & testing) Construction
Year to be online 2021 2021 2027
Technology to be used ESR H-DRI BF-BOF to EAF
Technology details Hydrogen plasma smelting reduction H-DRI + Hy4Smelt (not conventional EAF) EAF using HBI and scrap
Iron production capacity (million tonnes per year) 9e-08 0 Not applicable
Steel production capacity (million tonnes per year) Not applicable Not applicable 0
CO2 capture (million tonnes CO2 per year) Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable
Hydrogen generation capacity(MW) Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable
Investment size Not stated Not stated 806.055
Actual start year 2021 2021
Partners K1-MET GmbH, University of Leoben Mitsubishi Heavy, Primetals Technologies, Fortescue, K1Met, Universita del salento -
Date of announcement 2016-09-01 2020-12-28 2023-03-22

Plant Details

Table 2: General Plant Details

Phase Plant status Announced date Construction date Start date Pre-retirement announcement date Retired date Workforce size Power source
Main plant Operating[6] 1878[7] 1356[8] Captive power plant[9]
Closure Operating pre-retirement[10] 2023[10] 2027[10]
Expansion Construction[11] 2023[10] 2023-09[11] 2027[10] "Power providers Austrian Power Grid (APG) and Energie Steiermark are also at work installing the EAF’s power supply infrastructure"[12]

Table 3: Ownership and Parent Company Information

Phase Parent company Parent company PermID Parent company GEM ID Owner Owner company PermID Owner company GEM ID
Main plant Voestalpine AG [100.0%] 4295858976 [100%] E100001011521 [14.8%]; E100001011522 [8%]; E100001011520 voestalpine Stahl Donawitz GmbH[6] 5000038424 E100000130917

Table 4: Process and Products

Phase Steel product category Steel products ISO 14001 ISO 50001 Main production equipment Detailed production equipment
Main plant semi-finished; finished rolled[13] hot-rolled steel strip; cold-rolled steel strip; electrical steel strip; hot-dip galvanized steel strip; electrogalvanized steel strip; organic-coated steel strip[13] 2023[14] 2023[14] BF, BOF[7] 2 BOF; sinter plant[15][7][9][16]
Closure semi-finished; finished rolled[13] hot-rolled steel strip; cold-rolled steel strip; electrical steel strip; hot-dip galvanized steel strip; electrogalvanized steel strip; organic-coated steel strip[13] BF, BOF[10] 1 BOF[10]
Expansion semi-finished; finished rolled[13] hot-rolled steel strip; cold-rolled steel strip; electrical steel strip; hot-dip galvanized steel strip; electrogalvanized steel strip; organic-coated steel strip[13] EAF[10] 1 EAF[10]

Table 5: Crude Steel Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

*Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.
Phase Capacity operating status* Basic oxygen furnace steelmaking capacity Electric arc furnace steelmaking capacity Nominal crude steel capacity (total)
Main plant operating 720 TTPA[16] 720 TTPA[16]
Closure operating pre-retirement 850 TTPA[17] 850 TTPA[17]
Expansion construction 1700 TTPA[18][10][18][10] 1700 TTPA[18][10][18][10]

Table 6: Crude Iron Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

*Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.
Phase Capacity operating status* Blast furnace capacity Nominal iron capacity (total)
Main plant operating 825 TTPA[19] 825 TTPA[19]
Closure operating pre-retirement 825 TTPA[19] 825 TTPA[19]
Expansion construction

Table 7: Upstream Products Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

Phase Sinter
Main plant 1700 TTPA[19]
Closure 1700 TTPA[19]
Expansion

Blast Furnace Details

Table 8: Blast Furnace Details

Unit name Status Announced date Construction date Start date Retired date Furnace manufacturer and model Current size Current capacity (ttpa) Decarbonization technology Most recent relining
1 operating[20] unknown unknown unknown Siemens VAI; Saint-Gobain (parts) Siemens VAI Blast Furnace Design[21][22][21] 1205 m³[21] 825[19] unknown 2018-09-25[23]
4 operating pre-retirement[10] unknown unknown 1941[7] 2027[10] Siemens VAI; Paul Wurth (parts); Saint-Gobain (parts) Siemens VAI Blast Furnace Design[21][24][22][21] 1343 m³[21] 825[19] unknown 2016[25]

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of steel power plants, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Steel Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "History". Voestalpine. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  2. Tanatar, Maria (2017-07-12). "Voestalpine to invest $114m in projects at Donawitz plant in Austria | Metal Bulletin.com". MetalBulletin. Retrieved 2022-02-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. "How Just 14 People Make 500,000 Tons of Steel a Year in Austria". Bloomberg. 2017-06-21. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  4. Grossman, David (2017-06-22). "Highly-Automated Austrian Steel Mill Only Needs 14 People". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  5. "voestalpine Board OKs EUR1.5 Billion EAF Installation". AIST. 3/22/2023. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. 6.0 6.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20240125061324/https://www.voestalpine.com/stahldonawitz/en/. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 https://web.archive.org/web/20220113195420/https://www.voestalpine.com/stahldonawitz/en/company/history/. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20220204142750/https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.voestalpine_stahl_donawitz_gmbh.5afb3cc4643c115af0c46e8b16f091f1.html. Archived from the original on 04 February 2022. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. 9.0 9.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20220124104905/https://reports.voestalpine.com/1819/ar/servicepages/search.php?q. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 https://www.aist.org/news/steel-news/2023/march/20-24-march-2023/voestalpine-board-oks-eur1-5-billion-eaf-installat. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. 11.0 11.1 https://www.aist.org/news/steel-news/2023/september-2023/11-15-september-2023/voestalpine-embarks-upon-a-new-era-in-steelmaking. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. https://web.archive.org/web/20240122224514/https://www.recyclingtoday.com/news/voestalpine-electric-arc-furnace-steel-groundbreaking-recycling/. Archived from the original on 22 January 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 https://web.archive.org/web/20220125075939/https://www.voestalpine.com/stahl/en/Companies/voestalpine-Stahl-GmbH/Products. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. 14.0 14.1 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240207181340/https://www.voestalpine.com/stahldonawitz/static/sites/stahldonawitz/.downloads/en/VASD_Zertifikat-ISO-9001-14001-45001_50001_engl_2023-2026.PDF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 07 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20210917001257/https://www.voestalpine.com/group/static/sites/group/.downloads/de/aktie/praesentation/2020-21-business-model-and-facts-voestalpine-group.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20220319021812/https://www.eurofer.eu/about-steel/learn-about-steel/where-is-steel-made-in-europe/. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. 17.0 17.1 https://www.steelorbis.com/steel-news/latest-news/voestalpine-gets-approval-for-15-billion-investment-in-two-eafs-1283698.htm. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 https://web.archive.org/web/20240218081439/https://www.seaisi.org/details/23617?type=news-rooms. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 19.7 https://web.archive.org/web/20220518024156/https://www.voestalpine.com/stahldonawitz/en/products-and-technologies/production/pig-iron-production/. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. https://web.archive.org/web/20220620185950/https://lug-info.com/news/alchevskij-metallurgicheskij-kombinat-zapustil-v-rabotu-vtoruyu-domennuyu-pech-investor-16342864667599. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 https://abmproceedings.com.br/en/article/download-pdf/advanced-stoves-operation-with-simetal-bf-vairon. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. 22.0 22.1 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20221128015619/https://www.ceramicsrefractories.saint-gobain.com/sites/hps-mac3-cma-pcr/files/assetbank_media/Iron---Steel-Blast-Furnace-brochure-2022-web-2274441.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. https://web.archive.org/web/20220703022128/https://www.voestalpine.com/blog/en/career/working-environments/blast-furnace-1-in-donawitz-temporary-relining-successful-thanks-to-outstanding-commitment-and-teamwork/. Archived from the original on 03 July 2022. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20220929093913/https://www.paulwurth.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Brochure-Refractory-and-Engineering-Hot-Blast-Stoves-en.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  25. https://web.archive.org/web/20240110003605/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/srin.202000227. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

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